Report in Ethics - Kant

Moral
and
EMMANUEL KANT Ethical
Theory
BIOGRAPHY
Immanuel Kant was born on April 22, 1724, in Kaliningrad,

Russia.
In 1740 Kant entered the University of Konigsberg.
He published science papers, including “General Natural

History and Theory of the Heavens” in 1755.
BIOGRAPHY
 He spent 15 years as a metaphysics lecturer. In 1781 , he

published the first part of Critique of Pure Reason.
 He died on February 12, 1804, in Konigsberg, Russia.

KANT’S THEORY
 Represents deontological ethics.
 For him a right action consists solely in an action that is ruled

and justified by a rule or principle.
 It was the rational and autonomous conformity of one’s will to

see the right universal law.
 Foundations of Metaphysics and Morals, explains the

philosophical foundation of morality and moral actions.
KANT’S CONCEPT
MORALITY
GOOD WILL
 Only thing that is good without qualification.
 Other goods like intelligence and health can be qualified,

Good Will is good by virtue because it is the will to follow the
Moral Law.
THE NOTION OF DUT Y
 Distinction between “I want” and

“I ought”.
 Moral Actions are not

spontaneous, if I see someone in
need of help, I may be inclined
to look the other way, but I will
recognize that my duty is to help.
 Considering only those actions

that are seemingly good
according to Kant are actions
that seem good by duty, that are
good to my common sense and
for that they are right.
THE NATURE OF IMPERATIVES
Imperatives are commands

For Kant there exist 2:
1. Hypothetical Imperatives
2. Categorical Imperatives
HYPOTHETICAL IMPERATIVES
 If you want you ought. The ought or the duty is conditions by

your desires, wants and goals.
 Our goals are grounded in SELF -INTEREST.

CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVES
 For Kant there is only one imperative command and it is the

Moral Law.
 Divided in two formulations.

FIRST FORMULATION
 “Act as if the maxim of your action were to secure through

your will a universal law of nature.
 Meaning, act as if in your will you were defining a maximum

rule for all to follow.
SECOND FORMULATIONS
 “Act as if you treat humanity, whether in your own person or of

that another, always as an end and never as a mean.”
 See if your actions are using others or af fecting others, in the

meaning of never using them as a mean to achieve but always
as an end.
INTRINSIC GOODNESS
 Kant thinks that the only thing that is intrinsically good is a

good will.
 Right action consists solely in the conformity of an action to a

justified rule or principle.
FREE WILL
 We act morally, and for this to be the case we must be free.
 God and life after death, otherwise morality makes no sense.

SYNTHETIC A PRIORI
 We do not follow pre-determined laws. However, we must act

according to some laws, otherwise our actions are random
and without purpose.
 Rational beings must determine for themselves a set of laws

by which they will act.
SYNTHETIC A PRIORI
 These laws are determined by experience.
 The rational being has to determine the synthetic a priori –

the substantive rules that can be applied prior to experience.
MORAL WORTH
 A person’s action determine

her moral worth.
 Taking in account these

aspects:
1. Background
2. Basic Idea
3. Motivation
4. Consequences
5. Interpretations
MORAL WORTH
 One can have moral worth only if one is motivated by morality.
 “In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others;

in ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so.”
RESPECT
 Kant brought the notion of respect ( Achtung) to the center of

moral philosophy for the first time.
 The proper object of respect is the will. Respecting a person

involves issues related to the will, knowledge and freedom.
RESPECT
 Kant sees people as autonomous learning that they give

themselves their own laws.
 As a person has his own laws; the disrespect of their laws is

not acceptable in their code.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
DIFFERENT LEGAL
KINDS OF AND
MORAL
RIGHTS
LEGAL
Something that has been appointed,
established, or authorized by the law
that has consequences if violated.
EXAMPLE:
“Married but having an affair
with his secretary.”
MORAL
 Are based on experiences and determined throughout their
life self-rule.
 An individuals morals are based on upon their personal
values, but motivated by their culture.
EXAMPLE:
“Looking at the abortion example, if
one has the choice of having an
abortion but it is against their
religion, then they may feel the right
moral choice would not to receive
one.”
LEGAL
Sometimes if something is legal, it
is not always moral.
EXAMPLE: ABORTION
MORAL
Moral goodness is doing the right
thing, but it may not always lead to
happiness in the long-run. (Ethics)
EXAMPLE: Telling your friend

that you saw his boyfriend flirting with
another girl.
Looking at the both sides, Legal and
Moral are not synonymous.
Morality is based on an individual’s opinions

and values whereas legality focuses primarily
on the law system and forces of the
government.
CONCLUSION
“BEING HAPPY ANG BEING GOOD ARE

TWO DIFFERENT THINGS.”
-KANT ETHICS

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Moral

Immanuel Kant was born on April 22, 1724, in Kaliningrad,

In 1740 Kant entered the University of Konigsberg.

He published science papers, including “General Natural

 He spent 15 years as a metaphysics lecturer. In 1781 , he

 He died on February 12, 1804, in Konigsberg, Russia.

 Represents deontological ethics.

 For him a right action consists solely in an action that is ruled

 It was the rational and autonomous conformity of one’s will to

 Foundations of Metaphysics and Morals, explains the

 Only thing that is good without qualification.

 Other goods like intelligence and health can be qualified,

 Distinction between “I want” and

 Moral Actions are not

 Considering only those actions

Imperatives are commands

 If you want you ought. The ought or the duty is conditions by

 Our goals are grounded in SELF -INTEREST.

 For Kant there is only one imperative command and it is the

 Divided in two formulations.

 “Act as if the maxim of your action were to secure through

 Meaning, act as if in your will you were defining a maximum

 “Act as if you treat humanity, whether in your own person or of

 See if your actions are using others or af fecting others, in the

 Kant thinks that the only thing that is intrinsically good is a

 Right action consists solely in the conformity of an action to a

 We act morally, and for this to be the case we must be free.

 God and life after death, otherwise morality makes no sense.

 We do not follow pre-determined laws. However, we must act

 Rational beings must determine for themselves a set of laws

 These laws are determined by experience.

 The rational being has to determine the synthetic a priori –

 A person’s action determine

 Taking in account these

 One can have moral worth only if one is motivated by morality.

 “In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others;

 Kant brought the notion of respect ( Achtung) to the center of

 The proper object of respect is the will. Respecting a person

 Kant sees people as autonomous learning that they give

 As a person has his own laws; the disrespect of their laws is

EXAMPLE: Telling your friend

Morality is based on an individual’s opinions

“BEING HAPPY ANG BEING GOOD ARE

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